This album is what it would sound like if Jesse Lacey of Brand New and Julian Casablancas of The Strokes had their voices combined. It's a very fuzzy album that takes a cue from the 60s/70s with distorted guitars and, again, a very fuzzy sound. Did I mention it was fuzzy? Many will like this album, I didn't really care for it. Check it out if you want to hear "Vices"-like Jesse Lacey without the anger and a more garage noise behind it.
I've been reading Bill Simmons' The Book of Basketball (cover). Not since Dave Barry was in weekly publication have I followed a column writer so closely. I think he's the reason why I've been trying to get back into sports this year and starting to really care about them. In 4th grade when I arbitrarily picked the Minnesota Vikings as my favorite football team (they're purple, why not?), I didn't care. This year? I bought an Adrian Peterson jersey and Michelle (girlfriend) a Favre jersey (pic). Through my roommate, Doug, we've been watching a good amount of basketball and I've been really into it. Sucks that, as a Nets fan, they're not really doing the best, but I love the sport so it's still fun to watch. Also, the worse they do this year, the better off they'll be next year with a lottery pick + chance at LeBron. Where did I start this? Ah, Bill Simmons. Simmons is the kind of funny and quirky and cocky and obnoxious and self-aggrandizing writer that you can't put down and, though you may see some of these traits as negatives, the guy is someone I'd love to just sit around with and talk sports or pop culture for hours on end. You meet this guy in a bar, you're having a great night in terms of satisfying conversation. So, if you enjoy basketball at all, pick up his book. It's well worth it. I'm just over halfway through and I read a little bit every day. It's not a story in the sense that you feel like you need to get it all done as soon as possible to see what comes next; if you follow basketball, you already know what comes next because it's all happened. It's just his retelling of how the NBA is the way it is today and it's just fascinating to read. The only criticism I could think of so far is his lack of Penny Hardaway discussion (was the next Jordan, skill-wise before LeBron) and his blatant masturbatory musings on Larry Bird.
Tonight I'll probably be going to sleep somewhat early (depending on work/when I stop playing Cod:MW2) in order to wake up around 3:45 to drive somewhere dark to see the Leonid meteor shower at 4 a.m. I'm lucky to live in a slightly rural part of Pennsylvania, so there's not going to be too much light pollution, so the view has potential for spectacular. I have some ideas for where to go to be able to see it best, but we'll have to see what's legal and what's not.
I've always been really big into astronomy stuff to the point that I get nerd books on physics to read for fun about the origins of the Universe and crap like that, so I expect to enjoy tonight quite a bit. Fingers crossed for a) seeing meteors, b) not freezing, and c) being able to wake up for work tomorrow.
Fall Out Boy's greatest hits album is in stores tomorrow and, like usual, they did awesome fan service. Check out these swt brags.
It's hard to put into words what Fall Out Boy means to this website, but it definitely goes beyond the typical promotion. They're special, they've always been special, and regardless of how famous they've become, they're still the guys from Chicago we've known since lighting that smoke for giving up on me.
Cursive's The Ugly Organ is a fourth wall-shattering, grade A effort and one of the best albums lyrically of the past album. Instead of a singer talking about his life via music, he's talking about his life as a musician via music. This produces spectacular insecurity and great introspection on how what he does affects him. Listen to the below song and tell me it's not awesome.
It's a shame that this band hasn't been able to match this one with Happy Hollow and Mama, I'm Swollen, because this release is certainly worthy of any praise that it is given.
On my lunch break, I sometimes go on Youtube and just look for the best buzzer beaters or alley-oops from the NBA, stuff to keep me entertained for a bit. I came across this video today and was taken aback:
Yeah, he's making great shots and such, but the thing that really threw me off was the fact that I know this kid. I used to play pick up basketball with him at Ramapo College. Believe the videos, this kid knows what he's doing. However good he is at trick shots, he always sucked to play with because he was a showboat and knew he was good; not a good team player and ended up playing for himself. I hated playing with him. Sure, it's fun to watch him and he's got a ton of talent, but he's one of the worst people I've ever played pick up with.
A little over a year ago, Forgive Durden released Razia's Shadow, my favorite album of 2008 and something I can still pick up and listen to in full and absolutely love. Thomas Dutton is the creative genius behind that album and he's 24 years old. I'm 24 years old. If he and I went to the same high school, we'd be in the same grade. And here he is with this grand statement (his second album) that he can look back on. Odds are that Forgive Durden is not going to achieve the mainstream success Fueled by Ramen hopes for with this album and he'll probably be done with music by the time he is 30. I wonder if his future children are going to know much about this career or if any bands that we follow on this site who have kids will know exactly how special these people are (or were at some time).
The guy from The Receiving End of Sirens ended the band because he wanted to be there for his son. Will his son know in the future how his selfish fans wanted him to continue with the band and put the parenting on hold because they loved what he created so much? Will Geoff Rickly's future kids know how he helped shape my entire life with his music? I find this weird that these people are making this great art that, since it is not wholly embraced by the mainstream, will probably be forgotten about.
My question is...what is my legacy going to be? Are my kids in the future going to have anything that they can look back on their dad and say, "He really did something." I'm not having a mid-life crisis or anything, but I just wonder how someone like me can stack up as a regular person at a regular job when people younger than me are making millions in pro sports or touring the country making incredible music that people hang onto every word. Here's to being a good dad.
Around this season, people may have nightmares about demons and ghosts and crap stemming from the movie Paranormal Activity. Me? I had a nightmare last night that I struck out in slow pitch softball and I literally got so mad in my dream that I woke up angry. This was the low point of my weekend so far. High point was hitting a bee hive about a hundred feet away with a rock. You would have been impressed if you saw.
I read a lot of ESPN. Bill Simmons is fantastic and always always always worth reading. I pre-ordered his new book and am rather excited to read it. Tuesday Morning Quarterback is a good read as well. These are big popular columns, but there are some really underappreciated writers. For instance, former NBA player Paul Shirley writes on ESPN but mostly writes about music. The fun part? He writes about good music. The guy has a lot of interesting things to say about music, like how people cannot possibly think The Beatles are better than current music, and I was intrigued. A former NBA player talking about the music we on AP.net love? I hadn't seen anything like that since my roommate talked to Ron Artest about Midtown. So, I did what any normal person would do, and I emailed him and asked him what his favorite releases were this year.
Phoenix
Jamie T
Manchester Orchestra
Miike Snow
White Lies
Manchester Orchestra! Huzzah, then I recommended Brand New and he told me that his next column is actually all about Daisy. How cool is that? So, when that happens, watch the news because I plan to post that up. I guess that's it...not too interesting but I found it cool.
I don't think that I'm shy about my liking of Hanson's music. I still find it weird that people will go on and on about bands like My Favorite Highway (sounds like a Hanson ripoff) and Valencia, when there's hardly anything separating the three other than one had a huge single when they were in their early teens. Hanson's been living it down ever since. I'm sure that they have the financial security and I know they have the fanbase to not need to care about anything like that, but as someone in the minority of those who actually care about musical credibility that like Hanson, I find it strange that peers continue to casually toss them aside simply because they had "MMMBop." It sucks that people aren't open-minded enough to give them a shot, because they're really missing out on what I consider to be the premier pop rock band of the decade. Even worse for those not checking them out for their own "credibility," Hanson has been a truly indie band for longer than any of the bands your hardcore punk act on a record label has been. They're truly in it for the music and they make great music. In terms of my credibility talking about this, I'm just a fan. However, I stumbled across a blog from Ethan Koozer (formerly of Lydia) regarding them. Below you can find the entire thing, verbatim; if that doesn't make you reconsider your stance, I consider you hopeless.
Sometimes I go into radio rock mode and listen to things like early 2000s Sugar Ray. Here are some awesome old singles you probably forgot about but are really good and worth listening to for nostalgia's sake. Any good recommendations for a list like this?
You may have noticed some issues with the news icons. For some reason, they're looking bad and I can't figure it out. Trying to work through that so you can all see some pretty icons. It may not matter to you, but I care about how that stuff looks so things seem current and up to date. The best new avatar is, of course, Kanye West.
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